Mission Application Photo

Monday, March 27, 2017

Back to Ho in the Bush and Flooding!!

This week was quite busy getting everything done at the office as we left on Thursday afternoon to head to Ho District Conference in the bush. (Ho is 3-4 hours from Accra.) President asked us to "support" him, as he would be the presiding authority at the Saturday and Sunday Conference sessions. We traveled earlier to the location so we could visit missionaries, inspect apartments, and show our neighbors, the Jones's, a few places of interest. They will soon be the "senior" missionaries to orient others in our mission.

Monday night we ate out again!! This time the Ghana Accra Mission and Ghana Accra West Mission honored the Websters, the couple in the front of the picture. They are the executive secretaries to the Africa West Area Presidency and have many responsibilities. They are leaving in mid-April to return to their home in Australia and will soon be training their replacements. (Those of you who following our blog may remember the the Webster's son was a missionary companion to our son, Ryan, when he served in Canada.)Three couples are from Australia and one from Canada. Only President and Sister Heid and us are from the US!

On our way to Ho we stopped in a community called Kpong to check on these missionaries. Elder Winborg, in front, was the one in the car accident a few weeks ago. He still has headaches but has more color and is generally doing well. Elder Akwara, from Nigeria, was smiling in the picture. Little did we know that we would return to make a medical visit for him on the way home.

About an hour from Ho is a community called Amedzofe. This settlement is at the highest elevation in Ghana. The town has a training school built in 1880 by German missionaries. A metal cross is at the summit of Mount Gemi, the second highest mountain in Ghana.

We were so happy that it was a little cooler for a hike in the morning than when we visited a year ago.

Some of the foilage along the pathway.

We are looking at the Togo border just behind those "mountains." It was quite hazy!! This is what high humidity looks like.

Stan and Wayne had a short gospel discussion with two members of the Amedzofe Tourist office. They wanted to know more, so they were given copies of the Book of Mormon. They were very nice and quite interested in our message.

We proceeded on to Kpando to visit our elders. Two are from the Philippines. They were getting ready to do "contacting" with Zone Leaders who were coming from Ho. (It would take us about 1 1/2 hrs via our truck to go from Ho to Kpando but about 2 1/2 hours via Trotro. We didn't have room in our truck to bring them!) We brought supplies to Kpando and inspected their home.

Outside the house a water meter had exploded off this pipe and water started flowing into their home. The elders took a piece of wood and carved it to plug the pipe and stop the water. Later one of missionaries forced some pvc pipe together and reattached the water meter with a rock so water could flow into their poly tank! Who needs a plumber??

After the stop in Kpando we traveled to Wli Falls. On the pathway were several young men struggling to carry these huge bamboo poles on their head. They said they were for a garden. We told the Jones's that the walk was only about 15 minutes. Wrong! It was about 4.5 miles roundtrip! We were glad for the shade most of the way, but we still felt very sweaty!!

Wli Falls is the highest falls in Ghana.

Many bats were in the sky near the waterfall.

This was the road back from the waterfalls. It will be nice and wide when finished.

Much work is done by hand.

On Saturday there was a major thunderstorm. You can see all the water flowing into the house in Ho. We swept out the water with brooms.

Just as the thunderstorm finished, we lost power....thank goodness for a solar battery. We were hosting dinner for 14 people, which included members of the mission presidency who were in town for the Ho District Conference.

The District Conference Choir.

Elder Morris, our former office elder, was the accompanist for the Ho District Conference.

We stopped back in Kpong on our way home to Accra. Elder Winborg and Elder Eduok entertained us with the violin and keyboard. They were bored and confined to quarters.

Elder Akwara, on the left, has chickenpox!! Africans are not vaccinated against the virus so all four have to stay indoors until the incubation period is over. Bummer!!